News

September 23, 20133:32 PM

Stenhouse Drives Zest Ford to 24th-Place Finish at Loudon

Loudon, N.H. (September 23, 2013) – In the backyard of Fenway Sports Group, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. battled an ill-handling Zest Ford for a majority of Sunday’s Sylvania 300 to take the checkered flag in the 24th-position and earning Sunoco rookie of the race award.

“We struggled a lot which was pretty disappointing,” Stenhouse said. “We felt that we learned some stuff last time we were here and in the Phoenix test but we just struggled. We just missed something so we will have to go back to work on it at the shop. We head to Dover next week which is another technical track so hopefully we can get back on our top-10 streak.”

After battling a snappy loose machine during his qualifying attempt on Friday, the two-time Nationwide champion took the green flag in the 31st starting position. Stenhouse quickly maneuvered his Ford up into 24th by lap 30 when NASCAR displayed a competition caution for rain earlier in the day.

Steadily running in the top-25 for a majority of the 300-lap race, crew chief Scott Graves called for four tires and wedge adjustment on the final pit-stop with 50 laps remaining hoping to have an advantage over the cars that only took two tires. With the race staying green for the final 43 laps and track position being crucial, Stenhouse was unable to gain many positions in the closing laps crossing the finish line in 24th- place.

Stenhouse and the No. 17 team travel to Dover International Speedway on Sept. 29, 2013 for the AAA 400. Race coverage starts at 2:00 pm EST on ESPN.